


Miraculous: A New Era

by Animator2197, MoonDash21



Series: A New Era Series [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-04 02:26:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14582898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animator2197/pseuds/Animator2197, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonDash21/pseuds/MoonDash21
Summary: Millennia ago, the world was destroyed in one cataclysmic event. The Calamity. Everything was left broken, poisoned, and most of the world's countries and land areas were left uninhabitable. Creatures were created from the Calamity, mutants of every shape and size roamed the most dangerous lands of the earth.The Miraculous were destroyed, their remains scattered across the world. The last Guardians of the Miraculous broke apart, trying their best to find any shred of evidence that the Miraculous had survived the Calamity. After thousands of years of searching, they finally realized that the Miraculous were gone forever. Or so they thought.Kyndle, a normal girl at the age of sixteen, thought her life couldn't get any worse. But that all changed when a mysterious headband fell from the sky. Suddenly, she's thrust into a world full of magic, evil, mutants, kwamis, and... Superheroes? As Arctic Wolf, she must find all the other Miraculous bearers and bring them together to fight an invisible evil that threatens to break the very threads of space-time itself. Will she and her friends be able to stop this evil before their world goes up in flames? Or will they be the very thing that helps this evil succeed?





	1. Chapter 1: Mune

It was raining. Again. Like it was every day of the week, every hour of the day, every minute of the hour, every second of the minute. The water from the sky was restless, it was almost as if God himself was crying at the atrocity of past mistakes and current monstrosities. A cold front was moving in from the ocean, plaguing the gleaming city to eternal darkness. Thunder shook the ground, lightning cut the sky. The teardrops fell with a patter and ran down into nearby sewers. Tiny rivers trickled down into smaller streams of dirty water. The asphalt was cooled to a solid state. The streets were empty, the lights were on, and the stars were concealed by thick grey clouds. In Kyndle’s mind, it was the perfect walking weather. It was quiet but loud enough so her thoughts didn’t taunt her. She was walking in the mid-winter rain, the cold clung to her like an old friend, the sad thing was… The cold really was her only friend. 

She slowly made her way down an empty street with empty thoughts. She was humming to herself with her eyes closed, the echoing sound of rain was what guided Kyndle down the road without getting run over. She was trying to forget. She was trying to forget the red hand mark on her face, she was trying to forget the evil words, she was trying to forget who she was so she could become another person. It would never work, Kyndle knew that…but often she enjoyed stepping out of her body. She liked it when she was no longer chained to a destiny inevitable by time. Kyndle had to come back, though. Every time, the responsibilities of reality loved to ruin her peace.

She opened her liquid brown eyes and sighed, leaning her head back to taste the sweet rain. Hoping it would clean her purple bruise, hoping it would fill her stomach. She knew that was only a hopeful thought. It was hard not to hope when she had nothing left for hope to accomplish. Kyndle’s whole life was built on hope. A hope to someday find a way to protect herself from the terrible excuses of the universe.

A hoverboard zipped above her head, disappearing into the darkness behind her. Kyndle sighed, realizing that it wasn’t her parents looking for her. They would never stand for another rebellion on Kyndle’s part. She would probably just get hit again. Her feet skipped across the soaked ground, her tennis shoes made slopping noises as they began to accumulate water within them. Kyndle’s socks were wet and she hadn’t bothered to put a jacket on. The cold air made her head clear and focused. Something she experienced rarely with her busy schedule. Kyndle was always running around doing something. Whether it was an extra assignment from her boss or some stupid errand that her parents made her do. It seemed she was only there to do their bidding without so much as a thought.

Kyndle suddenly cursed herself when she realized that bringing her hoverboard would have made the trip faster. Now it would take at least more than thirty minutes for her to reach the abandoned park. She started to quicken her pace. The faster she moved, the less likely the chance of her being caught. Kyndle finally broke into a slow jog, the rain started falling harder when she jogged. If she ran any faster she swore her eyes would start to pool the water like tears building in her tear ducts. Luck befell Kyndle, though, as she approached an abandoned hoverbike. The keys were still in the lock and the wings of the bike stuck out without so much as a hint of rust. The blades within the large circles seemed usable. Kyndle wondered why someone would leave such a valuable object sitting around for just anyone to steal.

It was sleek and probably one of the newer versions of the first hoverbike. A black review screen could be seen on the side of the bike’s handlebars which were also made out of the same dark carbon fiber. The rest of the bike was a stylish turquoise, which gleamed in the darkness of stormy clouds. Lightning flickered in the sky to reveal a long, pale orange stripe that ran from the face of the hoverbike to the end. All in all, the hoverbike was majestic and very lovely. Kyndle hated to take the brilliant piece of hoverauto from its owner but she needed it more than the person probably did. Besides, if they really wanted to keep it, then they wouldn’t leave it unlocked and standing out for anyone to steal. 

Kyndle swung her sopping legs over the leather seat and turned the keys. The hoverbike hummed to life. Pale blue lights flickered on the underside of the bike as it lifted off the ground slowly. Kyndle searched the bike for a helmet and was fortunate enough to find one attached to the sidecar. She pulled it on, activating the night vision setting so she could see out the darkened film. She twisted her palm on the igniter and roared down the street. The din of the hoverbike was lost in her ears as the helmet filtered out the sound. Much to Kyndle’s amazement, the helmet was rather new and it allowed her to activate a GPS just with her voice or a mental command. She turned the hoverbike on auto-drive and set the coordinates, curious if the park was even located on the modern map. After a few minutes, the GPS found the relative location of the park and she set her destination and let the bike takeover. She lifted her hands off of the handlebars and leaned back just a little bit.

She turned her head to gaze at her surroundings through the green light of night vision. Blurs of buildings mixed with the blurs of people and people mixed into the sidewalk. Raindrops dotted the helmet’s glass but every so often, small little wipers would swipe over the droplets. The heated seat beneath Kyndle kept her warm, unfortunately, it couldn’t keep her dry and warm so she had to deal with her cold shirt sticking to her hot body. The wind beat mercilessly against her bare arms and started to make them red and pink. After a few prolonged minutes, the navigation system alerted Kyndle that she was near her destination. She slowed the bike to halt and parked it near the entrance to a wide and rusted gate. It was old, nearly seven thousand years old. The metal wires were thin and brown with rust. They spired into an old emblem of a city destroyed millennia ago. The deadbolt lock on the gate was broken, the heavy black mechanics were hanging off a chain link.

Kyndle pulled her helmet off, shaking her wet chocolate hair. She stuck the bike behind an old oak tree and slipped in between the gate, being careful enough so the doors wouldn’t groan. Grass, real grass, crunched beneath her feet. It wasn’t that cheap plastic stuff that was in her backyard. This was real oxygen releasing grass. A rarity since the Calamity wiped out much of the living things on the Earth. It was one of the great costs of nuclear warfare. Luckily, everything was in harmony under the peace work of the Proclamation. It was a simple treaty between all the broken nations of Earth. Who would turn down a chance for world peace? 

Kyndle slid down a grassy hill to a large and withered tree. Its branches were bare and grey, stretching up into the dark sky. It thirsted for water but was no longer able to drink of the sweet rain that fell from the heavens. The tree had been there longer than Kyndle was alive. She suspected it had even existed before the Treaty, before the Calamity. She didn’t know how it had survived the devastation but it was still standing, barely alive. The tree was slightly uprooted so a large hole covered in thick roots was where Kyndle chose to spend her days thinking. It wasn’t a large hole, it was just big enough for her to squeeze into. She slid right down the hole, the tips of muddy roots slimed on her face, leaving long brown marks on her pale skin. She finally halted and curled into a ball, hugging her knees close to her chest. She listened to the rain outside and her beating heart started to slow. Kyndle’s tense muscles relaxed and she allowed them to sink down into the ground. Still tight in her ball, she felt her eyelids start to drift close. She let them, for just one moment she would get lost in the dream world. For just… One… Moment… 

 

A boom and a bright flash of light behind her eyelids was what woke Kyndle up. Normally, thunder and lightning didn’t stir her in her sleep. She was so used to the sound of deafening roars and blinding light that she could sleep through a tornado. It was very unusual to Kyndle for her to wake up so suddenly from something. She was normally acutely aware of her surroundings when she slept but only the things that were dangerous seemed to actually wake her up. Kyndle lifted her head to stare out at the dark sky. The black thunderheads had departed revealing a bleak and nearly starless sky. It wasn’t raining anymore so there shouldn’t have been any more thunder and lightning. 

_So where did that sound come from?_ She wondered to herself. Every so slowly, she crawled out of the mud hole on her hands and knees. When her head broke the surface everything seemed normal… 

BOOM!

Another crash stole a yelp from Kyndle as she slid back down into the hole. Her back hit the rooty wall of the hole and she scrambled up against it, trying to hide. Kyndle wasn’t afraid of most things, except for her parents. And if this was some cruel joke from her ‘guardians’, she wasn’t about to have it. Anger bubbled up her insides and made them heat up like a tea kettle. She pushed herself up and out into the night. Another loud sound shook the ground and rattle the branches of the tree. A small beam of light shot through the sky. Kyndle stood in amazement as she watched it plummet. It was a like a fireball raining from the moon, a brilliant white chunk of unexplainable beauty.

Her heart wrenched in her chest and her legs willed her to run, but it was nearly too late when the thing in the sky came hurtling at her. A scream tore from Kyndle’s lips and she leaped out of the way just in time when the light came burning down into the ground where she was before. It bored a hole deep into the Earth, charring the valuable grass and hitting the large tree. It groaned and cried out in silence as it fully uprooted and fell to the park floor. Its crash sent a loud echoing sound bouncing off the melancholy walls of abandoned apartment buildings. Kyndle stood glued in place, shocked by what had just happened. The last tree in Thinder City was now dead, lying on the ground like a bleak grey corpse on the emerald grass. Kyndle was mortified that something so strong and ancient could be destroyed so easily by the work of man. 

Kyndle was both afraid and angry at what she had just witnessed. 

_ If someone thinks they can just come in and destroy the only thing that feels like home to me then they are so very, very wrong.  _ Kyndle stomped over to the wreckage, she was ready to identify and destroy the target if necessary. Her furious footsteps stopped though when she beheld what was smoking on the ground. It was a… A..?

_A HEADBAND? That’s what knocked over a tree? Am I hallucinating?!_ Kyndle thought in bewilderment. She squatted down and carefully reached out a hand to pick it up. Even though it was smoking and had been white hot just moments before, it was now cold to the touch. The smoke disintegrated into the air as her thin fingers wrapped around it. Kyndle scowled as she studied the headband. This is what had destroyed a giant and old tree? It was impossible! Nothing this small could fall from the sky and cause that much destruction! Kyndle shook her head and beat her palm against her forehead. She was probably just tired and imagined much of what had happened. Kyndle looked over at the tree. It was still knocked over, though. Nothing could persuade her otherwise unless she was still dreaming.

_ If it is a dream, then it’s a cruel one. _ Kyndle made the move to toss the thing away when something stilled her hand. Her mind suddenly filled with a warm and cushy feeling, as if something was trying to comfort her. Her panic mounted. She had only met a telepath once in her life and they had wanted to take information from her on an Advanced Placement exam for Geometry. It was cold and ravenous and it tried to tear her thoughts apart in its search for knowledge. But something was different about it this time. It was like a calming stream running through her, it soothed her worries and fears and snuffed out her anger. The spark of fury that always burned brightly in her gut slowly dimmed but did not disappear. Holding the headband, Kyndle felt oddly whole… It was like she had found something she had missed her entire life. 

_Fine_ , She thought remorsefully.  _ I’ll take it home and study it.  _ Her anger snapped on again and she made her way to the hoverbike and ignited the engine, zooming down the street. She held the headband in her left hand, refusing to as so much as glance at it. She slowed down a bit when the foreboding shadow of her house loomed straight over her head. She glanced at the hoverbike and then at her house. 

Kyndle grumbled in annoyance and sped the bike around the back, shoving it in a thicket of bushes and stored the keys in her hoodie pocket. She entered the house through the back door and she snuck her way upstairs. A loud snore stopped Kyndle in her tracks, a foot halfway to the next stair. She stole a glance down the stairs and saw her father passed out on the sofa, an open bottle hung from his hand, the room stung with the stench of alcohol. Kyndle grimaced and continued her trek up the stairs. Her stomach churned as she realized her mother was nowhere to be found.  

Once she reached the top of the stairs she tiptoed to her bedroom. The door was half cracked open and starlight spilled in from the open window she had escaped from earlier. Her desk, which was propped up near the window was covered in cold droplets of rain, her teleholo was stored safely in a dry spot so that it wouldn’t malfunction later on. She would have bought the waterproof kind but those were too expensive and big to fit in her pocket.

She gently shut the door and threw her helmet on her bed, spilling herself all over her floor. She sighed and weighed the headband in her hands. It was honestly a very pretty headband. It was pale, pale blue with a hint of grey mixed in with it. A smooth and clear gem lay in the center of the headband, it was shaped a like a crescent moon. The gem seemed to weigh like nothing, though. Almost as if it was hollow. Two black dots like onyx eyes stared up at her from either side of the moon. Kyndle placed it on her head and shook herself as a feeling of icy hot water sputtered through her body. She yanked the band off and set it on her desk, closing the window. Whatever that thing was, Kyndle wanted no part of it. Tomorrow, she would throw it away and that was that. 

Sunlight filtered in through the curtains. Kyndle groaned and lifted her head from her desk and blinked when the sun pierced her eyes. Cursing loudly as the light stung and blinded her. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. She sat in silence for a while, listening closely for the sound of her parent’s. She checked the time on her teleholo and noticed it was 8:55. They were gone to work already and today was a Saturday. Kyndle’s whole body warmed up and a smile was plastered on her face. She loved weekends because her parents were gone and she got the whole house to herself.

Kyndle pushed back her chair, stretching her arms above her head. For the first time in years, she actually felt quite happy. Then her eyes landed on the headband and her mood soured slightly. What was she going to do with it? Was she really going to just throw it away? It was a really pretty accessory… Maybe she should wear it? Kyndle shook her head sharply. Wear something that killed the last tree in existence? No way! She picked the headband up and started to walk out the door. Kyndle flinched when a loud crash and mumbling was heard from down the stairs. Kyndle backed up into her room and closed the door. Her heart rate increased and dread washed over her.

She thought her parents had left! If they had, then who was downstairs? Kyndle’s eyes flitted over her entire room. She needed a weapon or at least something to intimidate a thief with. She’d heard stories about people breaking into houses and stealing valuable items. It had been happening frequently in the past few months and Kyndle wasn’t about to let some dirty minded beggar rummage through her house and steal important objects. She finally settled on her old Math textbook. It was large with at least five thousand pages. It was pretty heavy and it made her swing slow but it would certainly hurt whoever was downstairs badly enough.

She stealthily made her way down the stairs, attempting to slow her beating heart. Moments before, she had placed the headband on her head, not bothering to put it down somewhere. Another crash and groan could be heard from the kitchen. Kyndle’s arms began to shake wildly and she cursed herself for her cowardice. She mentally slapped herself and pulled her emotions together. Whoever was in her house was going down. She leaped off the stairs in one quick motion and ducked behind the couch. The clammer stopped for a brief second and she held her breath. The person in the kitchen continued to mumble to themselves. Kyndle rolled from the couch to the table. She stopped underneath it, making sure not hit any legs of the chairs. The textbook weighed heavily in her hands when she crawled out into the kitchen. She raised the book above her head and stopped for a moment.

A small little thing slowly turned its large head towards her. It had wide black and yellow eyes with a small nose. Its large ears flattened against its head and crumbs fell from its face. Then it screamed an unruly high pitched squeal. Kyndle screamed in response and swung the textbook down in instinct. The little thing floated away squealing. Kyndle swung again but it ducked. It continued to scream as it dodged her furious attacks. After a while of swinging the textbook around, it collided with the small body and sent it into a nearby wall. Kyndle gasped as it peeled itself off the wall, shaking its head.

“Whoa! You have great reflexes….” It said drowsily in a small and squeaky voice to match its tiny size. Kyndle whimpered and swung the book at it again. “Wait! Hey! Stop trying to kill me!” It ducked underneath the book again but that’s exactly what Kyndle wanted. With a free hand, she grabbed the fluffy floating animal and pinned it to the dining room table. It squealed again and Kyndle squeezed her fingers tightly around its throat. “Kyndle! Please!” It wheezed from underneath her grip.

“Who are you, how do you know my name, and what are you doing in my house?!” Kyndle interrogated, pressing her fingernails against its face. 

   “Whoa, whoa, hey! Calm down! So many questions. My name is Mune, I know your name because I know who you are, and I was trying to find some chocolate chip cookies but you only had the peanut butter kind… Do you think you could make some for me?” It replied searching around over her shoulder. “I’m really hungry!” 

   “You’re not going anywhere, you little thief! I’m calling pest control!” Kyndle cried, reaching for her teleholo which was in her back pocket. The creature screeched in protest and somehow squeezed between her fingers, swiping at her hand with the teleholo. “Get away!” 

   “No, no, no! No one must know I exist!” The little creature said, chasing her squirming hand. 

“Well, I do! So it’s not that big of a secret!” Kyndle said but the thing knocked her teleholo out of her hands. Kyndle growled in frustration and backed up into the kitchen. The little creature followed her with large and pleading eyes. 

   “Please, Kyndle! You have to trust me!” It protested. 

   “Trust a thief?” She scoffed. “Dream on.”

   “Please! You would be just as hungry in my position! All you have to do is listen—“ The creature was cut off when Kyndle yanked a steak knife from the knife holder. The creature, Mune, screamed as Kyndle took him in her hand held the knife up to his throat. 

   “Fine, I’ll listen. But if you so much as move, you’re dead, little bug thing. Do you understand?” She asked, her voice edged with poison. It nodded hastily and stiffened like a board. “So, talk.”

   “Okay, okay. My name is Mune, you already know that. As for what I am. I’m a kwami, your kwami to be exact. I came from the headband you’re wearing right now.” He said between ragged breaths.

   “So, if I take it off…?” 

   “Don’t! I’ll disappear!” 

   “Great!” Kyndle said with forced joy. “Then all my problems are solved.” She made the motion to pull it off her head but Mune struggled in her grip. 

   “No! I’m not done explaining yet!” 

   “Well, hurry up because I’m getting impatient.” Kyndle hissed. 

   Mune crossed his arms. “Fine. I’m your kwami and the Miraculous grants you special powers.”

   “What?” Kyndle asked through gritted teeth. “You expect me to believe that? Who sent you, actually, who made you? You must be some sort of animatronic.” 

Mune gasped and his face contorted with disgust. “I am not one of those dingy robots! I’m a lot smarter.” He huffed and glared up at Kyndle. “Listen, I don’t expect you to believe me, but at least keep me around and feed me? I’m so hungry I could eat a camel!” Kyndle, despite herself, felt a small smile creep onto her face. There was something soothing about this little creature as she held it in her hand. It gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling all over her body. Kyndle had never really had a friend before. She was always so busy with her studies and extra work that she never had the chance to really commune or bond with anyone. If this little fluffy animal wasn’t dangerous, then why would she kill it? Of course, she would just have to hide it from her parents or they would kill it far before she did. Kyndle weighed the options and finally let go of Mune. He shook his entire body and the glossy fur on him puffed up slightly from the static in the room. 

“Too bad camels don’t exist anymore,” Kyndle said. 

Mune’s stature turned into shock as he floated near her face. “They don’t exist anymore? What do you mean they don’t exist anymore?!” 

Kyndle stared at Mune oddly. “How long have you been inside that headband?” 

Mune puzzled over that for a second as he flew over to another cupboard in the kitchen, flinging it open with his tiny paws. “Oh, jeez. I don’t know… Since 2067?” Kyndle’s eyes widened in amazement. That was nearly over a thousand years ago. 

“You’ve been stuck inside the headband for over a thousand years?” Kyndle asked. 

“Yes? Maybe? I don't know! What’s the date?” Mune turned around to face Kyndle, one large ear on his head was pulled down and the other one was up. He cocked his head and made some sort of purring sound. Kyndle was pretty sure he wasn’t a cat but it was hard to tell since he seemed to be a magical creature. 

“It’s September second, 3518.” 

“WHAT?!” Mune shrieked. He began to wobble in mid-air and Kyndle wondered if she would have to catch him or not. “I’ve been asleep for one thousand and five hundred years?!” Kyndle was starting to become concerned. Mune was looking a little faint and she was worried he’d plummet any second. He caught himself on the knob of her cabinet. “Oh my gosh! I’m so old!” 

Kyndle’s eyebrows drifted down in unamusement. So, now he wasn’t worried about not eating for a thousand years but he was devastated about being old? To her, he looked not even five but she refrained from calling him a child. That might devastate him more. Kyndle watched silently as Mune picked his way through her canned food. She decided to study him more as he worked to find food. 

He was small, probably no smaller than her entire hand stretched out. His body was the same color as the headband. A pale white-blue. Of course, he wasn’t all white-blue, to the crest of his nose down his cheeks was a pearly white. The same white was on his underbelly and near the beginning of his forearms. His back paws and front paws were both raven black and that seemed to be the only dark color on him. Save for his eyes. He had stunning golden eyes but they seemed slightly unnerving to her. Where human eyes had a white sclera, his were the same black as his pupils. To Kyndle, they seemed like the eyes of a demon but Mune acted the opposite of a demon. If anything… He was like a furry angel. 

Mune groaned in exasperation. “Where are the cookies?!” 

Kyndle lifted an eyebrow and sauntered over to the last pantry on the right. She pointed to the top. On the top of the pantry was an old-fashioned ceramic cookie jar. Mune squealed with delight and flew up to the jar. Kyndle stopped him by the tail, though, and glared deep into his eyes.

“You break that jar, you die. Understand?” 

Mune nodded quickly, flew from her grasp and approached the cookie jar with surprising speed. He yanked the lid off the jar and stuck his head inside of it. She could hear his murmurs of joy as he found the jackpot of cookies. Mune’s head popped out and he had a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth. He grinned widely at Kyndle and took the cookie out of his paws. His ears fell as he admired the cookie. 

“At least cookies still exist!” He said happily and he chomped into it. Mune’s tail began to wag back and forth as he chewed. Kyndle rolled her eyes and left the crazy little kwami to do his thing. She pulled out a chair and sat at the dining table, she was twiddling her thumbs, analyzing and understanding everything that had just happened in the past five minutes. She asked herself questions and saved some to ask Mune later. There was just one question Kyndle couldn’t leave until later. 

“Mune?” She called over her shoulder. 

“Mmyeah?” He asked between chews. 

“What did you mean by powers?” 

Mune came to sit in front of her on the glass table, two cookies in his grasp. He sniffed one, long and slow. Then he took a bite and chewed again. Kyndle rested her hand on her cheek impatiently, waiting for him to speak. Mune gulped down his cookie and set it down. 

“Well, when you activate your Miraculous, you get powers!” He said, licking his paws clean of loose crumbs. 

“Yes, I know that,” Kyndle grumbled. “But what kind of powers?” 

“Like… Powers! You transform!” 

“Transform into what?” Kyndle asked, quite afraid. 

“A person with powers,” Mune said, giving her a skeptical look. 

“No? Really?” Kyndle asked in sarcasm.

Mune nodded, giving her a serious look. Kyndle closed her eyes rubbed her fingers against the bridge of her nose. Apparently, sarcasm was lost on small magical creatures that were over a thousand years old. 

“How do I ‘transform’?” Kyndle finally asked after a few moments of hearing Mune chew. 

“I don’t know.” 

“You don’t know?!” 

Mune laughed nervously. “Nope.” 

Kyndle laid her head down on the table, groaning. “You’re the expert! You’re supposed to know these things. Mune, you’re the one who gives me the powers. You have to know something more.” Kyndle lifted her head to look at the fluffy kwami. His ears twitched slightly.

“I was actually never able to pair with a human. I only know the basics and I’m not quite sure what to do after saying that I’m your kwami.” Mune explained, shoving another cookie into his mouth. “The memories of my ancestors are still in my mind but it’s really hard to remember them…” After gulping down his treat Mune’s face started to twist into something that mimicked pain. Brows hid by layers of fur creased as he frowned. “Actually… I don’t really remember anything before… Before you, really. All I had to rely on when you freed me was some odd compelling instinct to eat cookies.” He looked up at Kyndle with confused eyes and her heart twisted in her chest. He looked absolutely devastated. 

“You don’t remember anything?” Kyndle asked. 

“N-no.” He said. Mune’s ears drooped slightly. “I only knew my name, what I was, and what I was supposed to tell you. Really, if I think about it hard enough, I have no memory before today at all. As if I had never existed before then… I have a basic knowledge of the world and the animals that live here. But I suppose that’s slightly outdated. It’s not like I learned any of these things, I just… Know them.” 

“What about your family? You don’t even remember your family?” 

Mune laughed, forcing a smile on his small muzzle. “I don’t think I had a family.” 

Kyndle’s breath hitched in her chest. No family? Even with her bad luck in families and relationships overall, Kyndle could never imagine a world without her parents. Though her parents were abusive and nearly drunk every time she encountered them, she still had a feeling of love for them. A small instinct of possessiveness. They were her family, would she ever really do anything to hurt the people who beat her senseless every day?  

“Honestly, I’m glad I don’t have a family. Your’s seem terrible.” Mune commented, settling down on the mahogany table. His ears were slightly perking as he tried to draw himself away from the lack of memory before Kyndle. She was surprised at his sudden outburst. 

“How did you know about my parents?” Kyndle asked. 

“When you touched the headband I was a little afraid that you might figure out what I was and use me for evil… So I searched your mind to see your intentions. You’re a very angry person, might I add. We need to work on that.” 

Kyndle’s muscles tensed as the events of last night played in her mind. Had he seen everything about her? Could he do it again? If he could, then Mune was extremely dangerous. He could see anything about her and perhaps use her secrets to manipulate her. Every bone in her body told her to take the headband and burn it. Better to rid herself of the danger than face it. Kyndle’s heart stopped her, though. Mune, even though she had only just met him a few minutes ago, was like a close friend to her. There was just something about him that clicked. She had taken a liking to the strange little kwami ever since she started talking to him. It was like he was made for her. 

Instead of killing Mune and erasing him from existence, she asked him a question. “Are you able to enter my mind all the time? If anyone were ever to try and read my mind, is there a way for me to block them out?” She had asked her telepathic Algebra teacher these same questions. Kyndle’s teacher never had the answer for the last one. If Kyndle was able to protect herself against a mental scan by a telepath or a mutant. 

“I can enter your mind anytime I want, but I won’t. Not unless I need to mentally speak with you. I’m not too intent on going back into your consciousness anytime soon. It was really messy. And you are able to block another telepath from entering your mind… I think.” He answered. 

“You think?”

Mune’s nose twitched as he huffed. “Remember, I only have basic knowledge?” 

Kyndle groaned loudly. Suddenly, she heard her teleholo ping. Mune’s ear perked and he floated over to it. He picked it up gingerly and sniffed it, pressing it against his face and growling it. Kyndle snatched the teleholo out of his paws and checked her messages by swiping through the white holograms. A red exclamation point marked where a new message was. She opened the tab and scrolled through her contacts until she found the new text. Mune ‘oohed’ as he watched Kyndle flip through her teleholo. She found his bewilderment amusing, it wasn’t everyday somebody was dumbfounded by a teleholo. Nearly every person in the Proclamation had one. 

Kyndle mumbled the message out loud. “Kyndle, I know it’s your day off but there was just a murder on Drejon Street and I can’t analyze the evidence without you. It’s asking a lot but I need your help. Signed, Dahlia…” Kyndle growled inwardly. “Shoot. Mune, I have to go. Are you okay staying by yourself?” 

She pushed the chair behind her and stood up, walking toward the coat closet. Mune whimpered and followed Kyndle. “N-noo!” He whined in protest. “Your home scares me! What if your parents come home?!” 

“Then you hide somewhere. Even though, I’m pretty sure they don’t come back until late tonight, so you should be okay…” He cut her off by flying in front of her face. Kyndle had to admit, he looked genuinely scared. His black and yellow eyes were large and pleading, his muzzle was wrinkled in fright and his ears were pinned to his head. Kyndle sighed and shook her head. “Fine, fine!” Kyndle said, yanking her hoodie from the closet. “But you stay…” She pulled her hoodie on over her head, checking for a spot to hide Mune. “In my hoodie pocket.” She decided, patting it. Mune nodded quickly, his face brightening and he zipped into Kyndle’s pocket, shifting a little until he made himself comfortable. 

Kyndle ran upstairs to grab her science kit and then burst out the back door, hopping onto her hidden hoverbike. She stabbed the keys in the ignition and let the bike slowly lift off the ground. Then she plunged it forward down the streets to her destination. She knew the city like the back of her hand and even knew some shortcuts to get to the street that she wanted. They were simple back alley places that were easy enough to slip into. Kyndle turned down an alley, slipping between two restaurants. A head peeked out of Kyndle’s hoodie and Mune let the wind wash over his fur. Kyndle gasped and used one hand to steer the bike out into the open street again. 

“Mune!” She scolded. “You’re supposed to stay hidden!” 

“Is this what wind feels like?” He murmured longingly. Kyndle’s heart stopped and did some weird fluttering thing. Mune really had never been out in the real world before, heck, he basically hadn’t been alive before today. She decided not to antagonize him more and let him roll his tongue out in the wind. There was no point in ruining the moment for him. Kyndle made a sharp right down Drejon street. Thick beams of yellow light surrounded a restaurant, mobs of people and police officers lined the street, keeping civilians back behind the commotion. A woman wearing all black with stunning golden hair waved at Kyndle, ushering her over. Kyndle slowly crept through the crowd on the bike and stopped it just within the yellow lights. The woman approached Kyndle, holding out her hand. Kyndle scowled and the woman retreated with her hand as she dismounted. Kyndle patted her pocket just to make sure that Mune was hidden inside. 

“Kyndle, I am so sorry about all of this. I know it’s your day off but I can barely make out the victim’s face and none of our technology can identify…” The woman started but Kyndle’s normal icy glare cut into her. 

“It’s fine, Dahlia. I don’t mind at all, I’ll take a look at it.” Kyndle approached the front of the restaurant. The big display window was shattered, needles of transparent glass littered the cement. Red droplets hung on the wall, slipping down onto the grey sidewalk below. A black tarp covered a body, the face and everything about the victim was covered by a single sheet that she stripped away. Kyndle’s stomach curled into knots and she heard Mune whimper inside of her pocket. 

“Maybe I should’ve stayed at your house…” He whispered just loud enough for her to hear. Mune was right, the entire top half of the body was stripped to ribbons and the head was nearly fully severed from the neck. Kyndle winced inwardly and took a sharp breath, bending down and opening up her testing kit. She pulled out her skin tight latex gloves and snapped them on, kneeled down to get a closer look at the ‘evidence’. She picked and prodded at the loose skin. 

“It looks like it’s been shredded by something like claws. Giving the symmetry of the marks and severity of the impact.” Kyndle commented to Dahlia, she bit her lip and continued to examine the body. “And some big claws at that. Do you see how massive these gouges are? This was not done by some dog or animal.” Kyndle sensed Dahlia shifting nervously. She almost pitied the older woman. Dahlia was always so skittish and anxious. It was a wonder how she was accepted into a police force where getting into scary situations was apart of the job. 

“You don’t think it was… A-a mutant do you?” Dahlia said uneasily. 

All the voices in the surrounding areas hushed to a silence and it sent chills up Kyndle’s spine. Mune started to shake inside of her pocket as if he too were feeling that cold that coursed through her veins. Now she was starting to feel a little edgy. Kyndle pondered the question for a moment, though. The mutants mostly stuck to the outer reaches of the Proclamation. They normally were located in what used to be the United States of America. Even if no humans lived there and no existing government was currently in control of the country, it still somehow stood on the freedom and diversity it was founded on. Canada, the U.S., and what was left of South America marked the Mutant Lands. A vast expanse of dangerous nuclear wastelands that only the mutants could seem to colonate. 

Kyndle shook her head abruptly, trying to still the fear that festered inside of her. “No, no. There’s little possibility of that happening.” 

The atmosphere around her seemed to calm down, the chilly air began to warm and Mune no longer shivered in fright. Kyndle took a plastic bag out of her case and yanked a piece of flesh from the body. Kyndle shut the case and pulled her gloves off. She motioned for Dahlia to follow, who rushed after her with a click of her heels. Kyndle never understood why Dahlia insisted on dressing up like a businesswoman when she was expected to chase after a suspect at any time. How was Dahlia supposed to dodge bullets and turn sharp corners in high heels? 

Kyndle swung her leg over on the bike and told Dahlia to take a seat in the sidecar. Kyndle’s partner gave her an odd stare before seating herself in the hoverbike’s sidecar. 

“When did you have enough money to buy a hoverbike?” She asked. 

“I didn’t. I stole it.” Kyndle answered bluntly. 

Dahlia gasped and looked up at Kyndle in utter shock and resentment. Kyndle smiled like she was kidding and waved her hand dismissively. Dahlia seemed to calm down after that, relaxing her tensed shoulders. Kyndle ignited the engine and let the bike rise above the ground before zipping off to the police station. It wasn’t far from Drejon Street, it was quite short a flight but that didn’t stop Kyndle’s churning thoughts. 

The huge slashes in the victim's chest still troubled her. There was nothing big enough to kill that man in the known world other than a mutant. The thought scared Kyndle, a large creature with six-inch-long claws and probably fangs to match the size marching around the streets of Thinder… It not only seemed to bother Kyndle but it also bothered Mune, and he knew absolutely nothing about mutants. Her tumbling thoughts came to a halt, though, when the station came into view with its towering glass windows and gold plated sides. The police department was one of the newer buildings in Thinder. Glorious and large it was, gleaming like a beacon in the cloudy sky. There were several polished white steps that led up to the front doors. A golden fountain spewed crystallized water and the droplets spun out like teardrop diamonds. Kyndle slowed the hoverbike to a stop and let Dahlia climb out first. Her heels clicked against the stone as she made her way up the steps and past the fountain. Kyndle followed her, slowing down a bit as Mune poked his head out of her pocket. 

“Wow, fancy!” He whispered, gazing at the buildings around him. “A lot happens in a thousand years.” Kyndle ignored his comments and strode up confidently to the bronze and glass doors that revealed the main lobby bustling with people dressed in tight uniforms and body armor. Each person had a belt with a gun clipped to the side. Some had golden emblems stitched to their shoulders and others did not. That was a sign of honor and bravery. The floors and walls were shiny stone glinting off of the light from a crystal chandelier above. The walls were an elegant tan stone with veins of black and white quartz flowing through them. The floor was more of a pinkish color with white quartz stretching through the stone. Many people stopped to wave at Kyndle but she quickly walked by her comrades, not wanting to spark unwanted conversation. She was here for business, nothing more. On her work days, maybe, just maybe, she would speak to them.

Dahlia had caught the elevator before her so Kyndle would have to wait for the next one to open. She grumbled inwardly and settled on the back stairs instead. The stairs were right next to the elevator and she flung the door open, stepping inside the dull stairway. It was grey and lifeless, unlike the main lobby and the rest of the station. Thick cement stairs led up in flights to nearly six hundred stories. Kyndle had always wanted to go to the six-hundredth floor but she wasn’t  permitted to reach that level just yet. She was working up to it, though.

“How come you go to work?” Mune asked as Kyndle started her trek up to the thirty-first floor. “Wait, how old are you?” 

“Sixteen,” Kyndle said, looking down at the furry kwami. 

Mune cocked his head. “But shouldn’t you be at school? Or does school not exist anymore?” 

Kyndle chuckled. “No, no. School still exist. I just graduated early.” 

“Oh,” He said, twitching his ears. “So you are in college and this is a part-time job?” 

“No, Mune. I graduated early, early. I finished my master’s degree at age fourteen.” 

“Fourteen?! You were just a little, little girl!” Mune exclaimed, staring up at her in awe. “You must’ve been REALLY smart to go through all of school that quickly.” 

Kyndle scoffed and quietly under her breath and said, “You have no idea…” 

The whole climb to her office consisted of Mune asking multiple questions about the world he now lived in. Kyndle explained all she knew about Earth and he was sucking up all the information like a vacuum. The thing he found most interesting was the moon. Kyndle has explained to Mune that both the Moon and Mars had been colonized by humans. It was a shame for the moon, though. It no longer reflected the sun’s light like it used to. There weren’t any more moon phases and the tides had to be controlled by magnetic pulses sent by the Tide Watchers. Mune started to nod absently when she told him this and his attention seemed to linger somewhere else. Kyndle assumed that was the end of the conversation and she had just reached the thirty-first floor. She told him to hide once more as she pushed open the door. 

Her office was in the fourth hall to the left and second office down. She knew the way without even having to look and it was on her desktop in no time, setting her case down and opening it up. A holocomp flickered to life, scanning her facial features and then logging into her account for the Thinder Police Department. Dahlia, who had already been in Kyndle’s office, peeked over her shoulder as Kyndle pulled out the plastic bag containing the sample from the victim. Kyndle pushed her chair, which had wheels on the bottom and a spinning seat, over to the testing station. She opened the bag and held her breath as the rotting piece of flesh fell into the tube. It closed with a shudder and sunk down into a metal long table which flashed to life with pale white lights. While the machine ran the diagnostics, Kyndle spun over to her holocomp again where she typed in a few things. She worked like this for awhile, well aware of Dahlia staring at her. 

Finally, the tests were done and they popped up on her screen. She touched her finger on the big ‘DONE’ and opened up the tab. A full reading of the victim's gender, DNA, relatives, address, and identification were shown in the document. Even a picture of what he looked like before he was mauled. Kyndle leaned forward and placed her elbows on the desk, reading through  the information quickly.

“Well…?” Dahlia asked nervously. Kyndle bit her lip and read his description.

“Well,” She began. “His name is Markus Ferman. He was a scientist who studied the mutants in the Mutant Lands.”

Kyndle could practically feel Dahlia quake in fear as her assumption of mutants was, in Dahlia’s mind, nearly confirmed. Kyndle ignored her terror and continued to read.

“He and a team of eight others went to the Mutant Lands to study mutant traditions or if they even had any. Four months later, he came back with his brother and his friend; claiming that the other four men with them were killed or missing. He barely made it out with his life. He’s been living with his wife and two children for the past year with no complications. He even quit his job at being a scientist.” Kyndle frowned. There were no reasons, no motive, no nothing for someone to want to kill Markus. “We have literally nothing.” 

“We could always examine the crime scene again,” Dahlia suggested.

Kyndle shook her head. “No, they’ve already scoured the entire area. There can’t possibly be anything else left there…”  Kyndle’s voice trailed off as Mune tugged the inside of her hoodie. Kyndle pressed her hand gently against the pocket to calm him down. She would figure out what was wrong with him later. Dahlia’s entire demeanor seemed to relax and she let out a breath she had been holding.

“If that’s the case, I’ll leave you to go home.” Dahlia made her exit with a wave and click of her heels. Seconds after the door shut, Mune zipped out of the pocket and waved his tiny arms around. 

“What?” Kyndle asked. The tone sounded a bit rude but she didn’t mean it to be that way. She decided to slip into a small and quick grin. Mune’s nose twitched slightly as he landed on the desk. 

“Have me look at the crime sceney thingy. I might be able to find something.” He suggested. 

“How are you going to find anything there? It’s all pretty much destroyed.” 

Mune poked his small nose. “I have good senses. Just like a wolf!” He stopped for a moment and then stared at Kyndle blankly. “Do wolves still exist?” 

Kyndle suppressed a giggle. “Yes, wolves still exist.” 

***

Kyndle exited the restaurant and twirled a piece of fur that she’d found on the ground in her fingers. Mune had sniffed it out earlier and was still dancing in triumph inside. It was funny how she hadn’t found any of the hair next to the body or even on it. There was just a piece of it laying inside in the most convenient spot… Kyndle looked up into the sky and was surprised to find it dark. It was a rare night, the clouds had actually completely departed leaving the sky bare. In the distance, she saw the moon. It was big and bright and always full. Kyndle looked away from the moon and studied the clump of hair again. There was no way she found this by accident. The edges of the fur were to straight, too obvious. Someone had wanted her to find this evidence but who? And why? 

Mune finally materialized through the restaurant wall and he made Kyndle jump a little. She didn’t like how he could do that, just pass through a wall as if he weren’t even a solid object. Mune landed on Kyndle’s shoulders and let out a small yawn. His mouth was spread open wide and his whiskers brushed her neck. He curled up in a ball, releasing his yawn and wrapping his tail around his forearms.

“Well, I told you, didn’t I?” He said sleepily. 

“We did find something but that was too easy. If someone wanted to stay hidden they wouldn’t leave a perfectly cut piece of fur or hair or whatever this is.” Kyndle said. Mune uncurled and stretched on her shoulder. 

“Let me smell it. I can probably track ‘em down.” Mune said, slipping off of her and hovering in front of her fingers. Kyndle shrugged and held it out, she had nothing to lose. Mune inhaled twice and started to touch the hairs a little bit and then inhaled again. He closed his eyes and raised his nose to the air. He began to sniff and float off to the left, Kyndle followed and stared at him oddly. A few blocks down he stopped at a dumpster. He wagged his tail and dove in, disappearing underneath the metal.

“Did you find something?” Kyndle asked.

Mune popped out, a dirty chocolate chip cookie in his mouth. “Yeah!” He said through a full mouth. “I found a cookie!” 

Kyndle frowned and swatted the cookie away. “Don’t get distracted. Besides, that’s disgusting! What was even in there?” 

“Eh, just some trash bags, a moldy onion, and a body.” He said nonchalantly, gazing desperately down at his cookie. Kyndle’s heart rate quickened. 

“A body?! MUNE!” Kyndle shouted, throwing the lid of the dumpster open. “That’s important! Maybe it’s the murderer!” Mune shrieked as Kyndle threw out a bunch of trash and cardboard boxes from the dumpster. She tossed aside a heavy black bag and gasped when she found a cold and white hand protruding out of two black bags. Kyndle fought the urge to heave as she pulled the chilled body from the dumpster. Much like the first victim, they had large claw marks on their body. Only this time, the throat seemed to have been ripped out completely nearly severing the head from the neck. “That’s just cruel…” 

She heard Mune whimper and saw him inch away from his cookie. It looked like he had lost his appetite. Kyndle had too, even though she hadn’t eaten anything the whole day. The sharp pains in her stomach had seemed to disappear. The strange thing was she could actually make out the victim’s face this time. It looked familiar like she had seen them somewhere. 

Her puzzle pieces clicked into place. Of course, she’d seen him before! This was one of the survivors from Markus’s expedition! She pulled out her teleholo and searched through the information from the department that she had downloaded before leaving. There were only two people left alive from the expedition. Tam Flier and Hermin Ferman. 

“Mune,” Kyndle said, closing the dumpster. “We’re leaving, I have a lead.” 

“What?” The small kwami asked floating after Kyndle as she jogged down the street to her hoverbike. “How did you do all that from just seeing a dead person?” 

“Well, that person was one of the few people who escaped that expedition to the Mutant Lands. There are only two people left and obviously, the trip is tied to the deaths. If we can get to one of them before the murderer we might have a chance to save them.”

“That’s brilliant!” Mune congratulated. “But what are you going to do once you find them?” 

“I don’t know!” Kyndle said, leaping onto her bike and starting the engine. “I’m making all this up as I go!” She pulled on her helmet and searched through the data one more time. The only person on the list who lived in Thinder was Hermin and he was Markus’s brother. She entered the coordinates in the GPS and sped down the streets, not even bothering to check if Mune was in her hoodie or not. She was so caught up in the moment that she had forgotten to swing by the police station and grab a gun. 

*** 

“Please, Mr. Ferman. There’s no need to panic. I just need to get you to safety at the TPD. You’re not in any trouble. You are aware that your brother was murdered earlier this morning, right?” Kyndle asked the man on the sofa. His skin was pale white and he was shaking violently. His black hair was messy and tangled. His eyes looked sunken and tired. 

“O-of course I know!” He said. “Do you not see the distress written plainly all over my face?” Yes, she did but she still had to make sure. 

“If that’s the case… Before we go, can I ask you a few questions?” She said softly, putting on her kind interrogation voice. She only used this when the person she was talking to was afraid or distraught. And it seemed mister Hermin Ferman was both. 

“S-sure. Shoot.” 

“Do you have any idea who might be wanting you dead?” She asked, gently sitting down beside him on the sofa. He took a deep breath and pondered the question for a moment. He shook his head and she decided to ask another question. “What exactly happened during the expedition?”

“W-well, while we were in the Mutant Lands… W-we were taken in by a Mutant family who felt sympathy for us humans and wanted to show us their home safely. Unfortunately, one of our teammates went rogue. He shot and killed one of the family’s children. The father was so enraged he attacked the whole team! The four of us that survived were lucky to make it out.” He stammered, fumbling with his hands. 

Kyndle’s mind whirred, matching the evidence from the crime scenes with the story. 

“Thank you so much, Mr. Ferman. Now, would you like to come with me to the Thinder Police Department?” He nodded quickly and she took his chilly and clammy hand in hers, leading him out his own front door. She guided him kindly into the sidecar. Kyndle swung her leg over and was about to turn the key when a large roar shattered the silence in the streets. Kyndle heard Mune shriek of terror within her pocket. Kyndle froze and stared terrified ahead of her into the far right of the street. Silhouetted by blue street lights was a hulking figure. Thick things like horns curled from its head as it approached. It’s footsteps were huge and she could already hear it’s heavy breathing from this distance. 

“Hermin Ferman!” It said the voice was scratchy and gruff and very menacing as it let out a growl. “You took something from me! AND I WANT REVENGE!” 

“Kyndle… I think now is the time to go!” Mune shouted. 

Kyndle threw her helmet on and stomped on the gas, the hoverbike revved up a bit before taking off like a rocket into the night. She could hear Hermin screaming to the left of her in the sidecar. From the back of her rearview mirror, she saw the creature bound with them. It was at least a few yards away, claws reaching out to nearly grasp the back side of the hoverbike.

“Dang! This thing is fast!” She made a sharp right into a tight alley, hoping that she could lose whatever that thing was. Unfortunately, the alley was just big enough for the monster to squeeze through. Kyndle gritted her teeth in frustration and pushed the bike to its limits. She was nearly at two hundred and thirty miles per hour _. I don’t have enough time to get to the station! My house is too far away… _ The GPS beeped and interrupted her thoughts. The directions to the old park lit her helmet screen.  _ Of course! It has enough space for us to hide and the hole is still there! Whether the tree is there or not, it’s still the perfect hiding place.  _ Kyndle followed the highlighted path on her screen and sped to the left, near the large rusted gates. She didn’t bother to stop the bike and noticed a wooden board propped up against old debris. “Come on, come on,” Kyndle said as she finally felt the thundering steps of the creature. She leaned forward and braced herself against the bike. Hopefully, this was going to work… 

“Wait! What are you doing?!” Hermin shouted from the sidecar as he realized that Kyndle wasn’t stopping. She didn’t have time to answer him because the hoverbike bounced up against the ram-like-structure and they were tossed into the open air. Gravity failed them for a single moment as everything around her seemed to slow. Kyndle took that single moment to breathe and lift her palms slightly from the handles, her short chocolate hair lifted off of her shoulders. Only for a second, only for a moment, she could’ve sworn she felt at peace. Strange considering the situation they were currently in. 

The bike hit the ground hard, really hard. Kyndle screamed as she was thrown from the bike’s seat and tumbled in the grass. Hermin had long jumped from the bike and was rolling on the ground to her. Kyndle hissed in pain and watched the hoverbike keep going until it slowed down to a stop. She heaved a sigh of relief and checked her pocket, making sure Mune was alright. He felt alive so she left him alone. 

The creature roared at the gates, golden eyes gleaming in the moonlight. 

“Go…” Kyndle wheezed, lifting Mr. Ferman from the ground. “Get out of here and run. I’ll slow this big shot down. Take the bike and get to the station.”

“What?” He asked, blinking rapidly. She shoved him to the bike forcefully.

“GO!” she said as he started the engine and disappeared down the park. Kyndle cursed as her right arm fell limp to her side with a burning pain. Either she sprained it or it was broken. She didn’t like either option but she desperately hoped it was only sprained. Mune popped his head out, his ears flattened against his head as the creature hopped over the fence into the moonlight. 

He was huge, or at least she thought it was a he. He was about taller than the gate that he’d jumped over. His legs were as thick as trunks, built heavily with muscle. He had the face of a wolf or some sort of canine. Horns curled from behind ears that laid just beneath them. He snarled and bared foot long fangs gleaming with saliva. Eyes the size of fist shone with violence and hostility. The monster had gills coming from the side of his furry neck and he had two arms. His hands were a mix between paws and hands. He had the pads like a dog but fingers like a human with six-inch talons. 

A mutant… Dahlia had been right. It all made sense now. This was the father of the mutant child that was killed on the expedition. He was taking revenge for his dead kid. 

“You let my prey get away.” He growled and licked his chops. “Looks like I’ll have to eat something else tonight.”

_ Oh, dear Phillias… _ Kyndle thought as she started to feel nauseous. She was his dinner?! 

“HEY!” Mune shouted, fully exposing himself. “You don’t get to talk to her like that!” 

“Mune!” Kyndle whispered sharply. 

The monster growled. “No one talks to me like that, imp.” Then in one leap, he started to run at them. Kyndle’s legs sputtered into action, kicking up dirt as she fled. The ground shook with every step he took and it sent her jaw rattling in her skull. 

“Good job, Mune! GOOD JOB! NOW WE HAVE AN ANGRY MUTANT CHASING US!” Kyndle shouted at her kwami. He flew beside her, glancing back every now and then to make sure the mutant wasn’t close to them yet. 

“You have to transform!” Mune shouted back at Kyndle. 

“What?!” She stumbled a bit as she tripped over a mound of dirt. “You said you didn’t know how!”

“Well… I kind of remember!” 

“Fantastic!” Kyndle shouted sarcastically. They were nearing the far edge of the park, the gate that Kyndle never liked to use. It was small and crumbling, besides, it went straight over an old, old stone bridge that looked like it would collapse at any moment. Kyndle had watched enough movies to know how well that always ended. 

“Just say something like, ‘Mune, howling moon, lunar, whatchamacallit!’ Along those lines!” 

“MUNE!” 

Kyndle’s footing gave out from underneath her as the mutant pounced upon the earth. She screamed out and landed on her knee, shocking pain ran up her leg as she tumbled. The gate unhinged and broke away as she rolled down with it. Her body smacked against the cold and crumbling stone. The gate fell away with a large splash, showering Kyndle with water. The mutant hopped again onto the bridge, bouncing Kyndle near the edge. She scrambled against the smooth rock and tried to regain her balance but each time the mutant jumped and made her skid. Finally, her foot slipped and she fell. Her arms shot out instinctively and gripped the ledge, her right arm screaming in pain. 

The mutant stood towering over her, a malicious grin plastered on his face. 

Just before he was about to swipe his large hand and rip her throat out, a small phrase entered the back of her mind. It was faint and unquestionably simple but it held such power within itself that it made her entire being hum. She felt it, Kyndle could feel the strength it gave her and she knew exactly what to do, exactly what to say, exactly what to become. With a surge of energy, she released the words with a large and mighty shout. 

“MUNE, IT’S HOWLING TIME!” 

A large flash of blue and white enveloped her but Kyndle wasn’t afraid… It felt right. That icy sensation that she felt when she had first touched the headband seemed to flow through her veins, spiking her senses and rejuvenating her strength. She felt alive and whole as something inside of her changed. She embraced the change and let it happen, her instincts carrying her through like she had been born just for this one moment in her life. 

Moments later, the light faded and Kyndle stumbled back, the iciness fading from her body. She gasped and gazed down at her hands when they realized they weren’t hers. Well, they were, they were just...different. Her whole body was covered in the same grey-blue that the headband was made out of. Her headband, which was still on her head had two cupped ears on the top that seemed to pick up any sound made within a ten-mile radius. Kyndle’s hands were black with white fur coming from the middle of her forearm and stopping at her wrist. A belt was buckled to her waist, the same black as her hands. There were two pockets on either side of the belt and she wondered what they held. Connected to the belt was a furry blue-grey and white tail that moved where ever she directed it. A small grey and white skirt hung from her hips and ended at the beginning of her thighs. Her legs very much resembled the suit design on her arms except the boots she was wearing reminded her of paws, tipped with an inky black. 

She glanced to her right, Kyndle’s new ears picking of the sound of the mutant grunting. He was rubbing his eyes blearily, stumbling back a little bit. When he blinked his eyes open he looked a little bit scared. After a while, his lips curled back into a snarl. He lunged at her and Kyndle yelped, dodging his giant fist as it came hurtling down inches from her. Kyndle landed on her feet at least a yard away, breathing heavily with fear. She shoved her terror down into the pits of her stomach, she didn’t have time to be afraid. She had to get rid of this guy and fast before he killed more people. Or her… 

“Mune? What should I do…?” Her voice trailed off as she moved her head quickly from side to side, searching for the wolf kwami. He wasn’t anywhere to be found, she would have to figure this out on her own. The mutant swung again, this time aiming at Kyndle’s right side. Instead of jumping out of the way in time it hit her square in the shoulder. She was thrown back into a nearby street. Windows shattered in her wake and her back slammed against a building. She felt the brick give in around her as she collided into it. Kyndle groaned but she only felt a little pain. The mutant pounced into the street and Kyndle could hear screams of terror. 

A new anger bubbled up in her stomach and heated her entire body. Kyndle peeled herself off of the wall and faced the mutant, fists out and ready. He reached out to kick Kyndle but somehow, with incredible speed, she grabbed his foot and threw him to the ground. The asphalt splayed out all around him as he fell. He rolled over and coughed as dust billowed into the air. Kyndle didn’t give him enough time to recover, though. She was too flipping furious. Kyndle leaped up and landed a fist to his stomach. The wind blew past her face as the power of her punch met his skin. He flew back a few yards, he landed on a hover car and bent it inward.

_ Seems like I have super strength or something of the type now. I’ve never been this strong and felt this alive before. What happened to me?  _ Kyndle didn’t have long to ponder her thoughts, though, because the blackened shadow of the mutant passed over her. She jumped out of the way just as his fist connected with the street. Kyndle landed on her feet again but she wasn’t ready for the shockwave that pounded out from the ground. The asphalt morphed and folded, shifting underneath Kyndle’s feet too fast for her to calculate. Kyndle soared up into the air screaming. She landed on the roof of a building, tumbling until she caught herself on her feet again. 

The mutant leaped up and over her head. Kyndle let out an inhuman growl as he threw down another hand to smack her. She stopped the smack with her fist which sent pain rattling up her forearm. She was blown back on her feet and she slid against the roof. The mutant slid too, just not as far. He was already throwing a punch at Kyndle by the time she looked up from the roof. She cartwheeled out of the way and swiped her foot underneath the monster. He fell down with a large thump. Kyndle gasped as she felt the foundation snapping beneath his weight. She needed to get him off of the roof. Kyndle found that the mutant had a tail so she grabbed it, swinging him off of the building and back into the street. 

Kyndle heard him roar in frustration as she also jumped off of the building. 

_ I have to figure out how to beat him, I don’t have time for this and he’ll have half of Thinder destroyed in one night. I need to study his attacks, what’s his weakness? _ Kyndle watched him lumber to his feet and noticed that he very much favored his right leg. Now that she really tried to remember, she noticed that he always leaned too far to the right when he attacked. If she could catch him off balance maybe she would have a chance of beating him. 

The mutant charged again, and just as Kyndle predicted, leaning forward to the right. Right as his arm came to hit her she barely skipped out of the way. Just as his fist passed by her she grabbed it with two hands and shoved him forward. He flew away from her, landing on the road face first, eating up asphalt. He was still for a moment and did not move. Kyndle blew a sigh of relief and placed her hands on her knees catching her breath. 

Suddenly, a cacophony of cheers startled her. Soon the entire street was filled to the brim with cheering citizens. They were beating their fists in the air and shouting praises. Many came up to her and hugged her. Kyndle tensed up a like a board as normal but she allowed them to cry all over her, letting them thank her. Even above the cheers, Kyndle heard a sickening sound. The sound of claws scraping against stone. The crowd must have heard it too because they fell deathly silent. Kyndle turned around, narrowing her eyes at the mutant. 

_ Crap _ . She thought.  _ He’s still alive… Of course, he’s still alive! I can’t kill him!  _

“EVERYBODY GO! GET OUT OF HERE!” Kyndle shouted, waving her arms above her head. Chaos broke out among the crowd as they pushed against each other, trying to escape. Kyndle felt something smack against her head. She cried out in pain as she was sent soaring to the left and into a dumpster can. She felt something in her neck crack and white hot fire coursed through her head. Kyndle held her face in agony, rocking back and forth on her knees. Through her blurred and painful vision, she saw the mutant pick up a running person. She saw him lift them to his mouth… 

Something inside of Kyndle snapped. The pain disappeared and the icy chill traveled down her spine. Her whole body seemed to crackle with power. It begged to be released, it was ready. Fueling off of her anger and disgust for the creature eating innocent people. Kyndle mustered up her strength and stood on both of her feet, raising her eyes and growling. Suddenly, her hand burst into white sparks of electricity, bouncing off of alley walls and illuminating the streets. The shadows crossed across her face, outlining her snarl and intensifying the fury in her eyes. The mutant stopped with the human nearly in his mouth. He threw his dinner down and turned to face Kyndle, his eyes aflame with hatred. But Kyndle hated him more. 

She charged with a valiant war cry, zipping over to the mutant. He roared and picked up a hover car, chucking it at her with incredible strength. Kyndle jumped onto the hood of the hovercar and used it as leverage to pounce upon the mutant’s head. She latched her hands onto his horns, swinging to land on his massive scalp. He snarled in fury, ready to whip her off but it was too late. Kyndle finally broke the control she had on the electricity in her hand and sent it coursing through her arm and out into her fingers. The mutant shouted in pain as Kyndle released all of her bent up fury on the creature. Finally, Kyndle let go, tasting the smell of burnt flesh. Her feet lightly touched the ground as the monster slumped over. His whole body convulsed in pain until he finally lay still. His eyes were glassy and wide with fear, his dog like mouth agape as if he were still screaming. Kyndle had to look away, bile rising in her throat. 

Moments later, blue and red flashing lights blinded her vision and the sound of sirens pierced her ears. Several hover cars painted black with the Thinder police badge on each of the front doors pulled up in front of her and the now dead mutant. Many officers stepped out of the cars, gazing horrified at the scene before them. Soon, their horrification turned into awe as they marveled the scene in front of them. Thousands of people stood behind the hover cars, waiting for someone to make the first move. Just then, a reporter squeezed the crowds of people, her cameraman trailing not far behind her. She shoved a hover mic in front of Kyndle. 

“I have some questions to ask you!” She said, pulling out a hoverpad so she could take notes. 

“I… I only have time for one,” Kyndle replied awkwardly. 

The reporter seemed disappointed but she raised her stylus and prepared to ask her one question. “What’s your name?”

Kyndle thought about that for a moment and she was about to say her full name but something stopped her. Much like how the phrase to transform had entered her mind, a name seemed to ring in her consciousness. It sounded fitting and almost completely fulfilled her needs of a name. Although, she wasn’t too keen on changing her name then and there… 

“Arctic Wolf.” She said into the microphone. The reporter jotted the note down but before she could even consider asking another question, Kyndle was gone. 

***

Kyndle sat on top of the roof of her house, gazing out at the stars. A smile was on her face and she honestly felt really good. She wasn’t tired, she wasn’t angry, she wasn’t stressed… She was happy and content. Kyndle was sure the events of that night would hit her in the morning but for now, she was perfectly fine. Mune was sitting beside her, devouring a chocolate chip cookie. He had insisted on going to the bakery downtown right after she figured out how to de-transform. Mune explained the transformation and using her electrical powers drained his energy and the more she used them, the weaker he became and the harder it was for him to keep the transformation of Arctic Wolf in place. Kyndle found it a little strange but then again the past two days had been the complete opposite of normal.

But for this little moment, she felt immune to the rest of the world around. She was whole and it felt so good. The daily abuse of her parents didn’t bother her, the questions wringing around in her mind about mutants didn’t bother her. Nothing in the world could make her upset at this moment. Exactly, she was immune to everything but the happiness bubbling up inside of her.

_ Ha, imMUNE. Jeez, did I just make a pun of my own kwami? Better yet, I just made an ACTUAL pun. Me? Kyndle? Make a pun? I thought I’d never see the day…  _ Kyndle giggled at her own joke. Mune stared up at Kyndle oddly.  _ You don’t want to know…  _

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Mune asked as he ate his last cookie. “You’ve been really quiet.” 

“Mune,” Kyndle chuckled. “For the last time, I’m fine.” 

“Are you sure? You don’t feel tired or sad or anything?”

“No…” Kyndle sighed, gazing up at the fullest and brightest moon in the galaxy. “I feel  _ miraculous _ .” 


	2. Sneak Peak to Chapter 2: Hierarchy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! For the people who are actually reading this trashy story, I decided to add a little sneak peak into the next chapter so that you guys won’t be waiting FOREVER for the next one. I might just keep poppin in sneak peaks until the whole chapter is finished. Who knows. :)

“Pause…” 

“Play…” 

“Pause…”

A shadow reached out and stroked his darkened chin. His emerald eyes narrowed as he studied the footage before him. A picture of a young girl, probably not even seventeen yet, was before him on the large holoscreen. She had cropped brown hair and fierce eyes. Arctic Wolf, that’s what she called herself. The main color of her suit was blue-grey and had a lot of wolf-like quality to it. Her eyes were chillingly menacing. They were a piercing yellow, the sclera of her eyes were not white, they were as black as a bottomless pit. She was scratched and bloody but extremely powerful and terrifying. This was going to put a few complications in his plan but it was of no matter. This was too big of a moment.

A small and sinister smile crept onto his face. 

At last… The Wolf Miraculous had been found and activated. It was a very momentous occasion indeed. He had waited nearly a century for this day and he was finally witnessing its power in action. One thing did trouble him, though. The holder of the Miraculous seemed to be a fighter, every movement, every swing, and every punch she landed held purpose. She seemed smart, strategic, quick-witted, and destructive. 

It was no surprise to him. Wasn’t it to be expected from the two original Miraculouses that the Wolf had been created from? He was, although, expecting her to be a bit more flirtatious. 

He laughed maniacally. 

“Grun.” He signaled. He heard shuffles near the door of his dark room.

“Yes, sir?” Grun said, trying to search for his master through the inky blackness. 

“Begin stage one of Project Phoenix.”

“Of course, master.”

Suddenly, his smile faded as he unpaused the video. His voice lowered to a hostile whisper. “Also, grab Jane. Her training needs to be completed. Also, I think it’s about time I met my daughter…” 

***

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my fanfiction! Honestly... I'll be really surprised if anyone reads this story. It's probably not that good. Well, I'm glad you did read it anyway! I don't know when the next chapter will be coming out. It'll come out when it comes out. When the summer approaches maybe I'll create a schedule but that's really unlikely. Most chapters are going to be really long so I'm thinking it'll be worth the wait! 
> 
> Feel free to comment down below! I will accept constructive criticism! 
> 
> Thank you! <3


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